I still lose to Infect tho. I have two Blessed Alliance in the side but my opponent knows how to play around
Any idea to strengthen the deck a bit more?
What's your side board look like? Besides the Blessed Alliances, Brave the Elements is situationally good against infect though doesn't stop Inkmoth Nexus. If you're really needing to stop infect, Solemnity is also a way to do this, but unfortunately it's just at that point on the curve where infect can sometimes kill you before you can play it. But Solemnity is sort of a last-ditch effort since it nonbos so nicely with Archangel (like I've had people side in Solemnity against me and it's a world of fun). But the other option is to just go with white Fogs.
Since you have 8 Rack in the meta as well, Dawn Charm can be surprise tech against some of their discard that still lets you fog out against infect. I don't think you can prevent a Valakut trigger with it, but you can spot-save a creature they wanted to Bolt away. And it can buy you a turn or two against Living End/E-Tron/Affinity/etc. So that might be the best white Fog for your meta. (There's other options, obviously, but I think that's the most versatile of them. Siding too narrowly weakens other match ups, and this one might just improve your odds).
If you wanted to get really spicy with the meme values, you could side Mana Tithe for an FNM or two (until people realize you've started playing it and play around it), keep them on their toes and maybe help steal you a win or two. But then swap it out for "real" side cards after the jig's up.
Can help with more/better/relevant sideboard suggestions if you could post yours
So my first foray into the Modern format was met with little success but much fun. I finished the night with a 1-3 record.
Match 1: 1-2 vs Grixis Through the Breach
Turns out Emrakul is a good Magic card, who knew? After sideboard and bringing in discard I was able to at least give my opponent a good fight. Winning game 2 on the back of discard and Sorin sealing the deal with +1 pump. Game 3 I wasn't able to get enough of a board quick enough after hitting him with multiple Thoughtseize and eventually got Emrakul'd
Match 2: 0-2 vs Devoted Druid CoCo
Lost game 1 to a turn four infinite mana combo into Duskwatch Recruiter and Walking Ballista. Game 2 was much longer and I was able to slow him down with removal and discard but eventually succumbed to a couple good hits off CoCo which overwhelmed my board.
Match 3: 2-1 vs Bogles
Game one opponent had a great opening hand and I couldn't keep up with his hexproof bogle. Game 2 I landed an opening Thoughtseize and he wasn't able to recover after that. Game 3 was similar, after hitting him with two discard he wasn't able to draw into more threats before I had my board online and overwhelmed him.
Match 4: 1-2 vs Infect
Game 1 was our best game of the match. It was fun evaluating when to block and when not to block, the attrition of it. Game 2 and 3 unfortunately went rather poor for me. Both games followed the same slow attrition battle of me blocking and removing creatures but in both games I hit pockets of 3-4 land draws in a row and that ended me both times.
Summary:
Even with my poor record I had a lot of fun playing the deck. I know a few of my losses came down to learning curve mistakes in opening hands and improper targets chosen for discard but I don't think my record would have changed much if at all. In all my games I always sideboarded in the 4 Thoughtseize. As far as card evaluations go I really liked Freebooter and Thalia's Lieutenant. Freebooter gave me some good G1 interaction and another flyer while Lt. was a great anthem that drew a lot of hate that I'd rather not have targeted at a sister. I do wonder if Honor of the Pure would just be better than Lt. since it buffs my spirits, vampires, and pridemate as well. Ayli only saw play once but her activated ability would not have been relevant since I never broke 30 life in any of my games. Thoughtseize, pain lands, and generally letting the opponents get a couple early hits in kept my life between 22-25 most games. Copter only made an appearance in the infect matchup where it died rather quickly but I want to run it a bit more because it feels like it has too much upside.
As of right now I can say that I will probably cut both Ayli and add another Freebooter and Lieutenant as well as potentially cutting 2 sisters and adding more G1 interaction or more token producers. Sideboard changes will also be made as well as I have seen at least some of my local meta and got and idea of what some of the people I didn't play against are playing.
@GreenSkyDragon:
I think Bitterblossom would be awesome and I've wondered if going a bit more token heavy with it and Secure the Wastes would be a good course of action. I'll probably try it out at some point but won't be for a little while as I'm on a slight budget at current. I do like the idea of Dusk/Dawn replacing Servitude, would like to test.
@BoBoCTiberius:
I'm actually running 22 lands but yeah gaining another card would be good. I'd agree it's at least worth trying, usually pretty easy to flip the card.
Not seeing a ton for us in the new Dominaria leak, but these might crack some lists. (Spoiler tagged in case you don't like leaks.)
Urza's Ruinous Blast
4W
Legendary Sorcery
(You may cast a legendary sorcery only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.)
Exile all nonland permanents that aren't legendary.
Seems excellent against a deck like Lantern or Bogles if you're in a Gideon-heavy build.
Damping Sphere
2
Artifact
If a land is tapped for two or more mana, it produces C instead of any other type and amount.
Each spell a player casts costs 1 more to cast for each other spell that player has cast this turn.
This can stop Tron while also neutering Storm, Ad Naseum and Ponza. Seems like a worthy sideboard card.
Match 1, 5c Humans 2-1 -edit-
Game 1 I have mana troubles and he just beats me down for a slow win.
Game 2 Sisters on board, he deals early damage develops a quick board and bounces, disrupts my defenses. He over commits on an attack for leathal. I cast settle the wreckage leaving him with 1 dude and no cards in hand My deck recovers and wins.
Game 3 win He has mana troubles at 2 mana, I develop a slow board and run over him.
Match 2 Jund Bloodbraid 2-1
Game 1 Back and forth with his Bob hurting him more than helping, I get larger and fly over him for the win.
Game 2 He shuts down my lifegain and takes out my pridemate. I suffer thru a few more rounds till death, lost.
Game 3 I just explode creatures (2 serra Acsendant, 2 sisters, 2 Spectral Procession) and should have gotten ascended Serra's but Missed a trigger with Bloodbraid ETB which allows him to kill a "weak" Serra. He dies a few turns later than sooner.
Match 3 Jund Bloodbraid 2-1
Game 1 win, he fumbles with his deck learning to play it. I hit my things and just win with honor of the pure on Lingering souls. Elspeth enters and adds to the damage.
Game 2 I have mana problems and he resolves spells faster. loss
Game 3 I develop quick, he has mana problems keeping a high CMC hand. I path my guys in response to his Bolts giving me free land drops and flipping Ardante. He has to develop from behind. I win
Match 4 Bant Spirits 2-1
My opponent had no answers going into the game and wished to quit before playing, my response was No I want your soul.
Game 1 Win we both mulligan1, close game but my lifegain saved damage until I could get answers for a win, everything came into play this game. went long.
Game 2 He mulligans1 I mulligan2 to a fast hand, I keep a hand with no sisters, He wins quick.
Game 3 we both Mulligan1 (2.50 minutes on game clock). I keep hand of worship, ardanta, Fetchland, windbrisk, 2 plains scry plains top.. I Hideaway a soulsister, We go back and forth I land an early T4 Worship followed by Ardante, He can not answer it, and hideaway spectral procession. I Ranger up 2 sisters. I hold back an archangel trying to draw out a counterspell he does not have in the deck. Our board states are close but his guys are a little larger. We go to Turns I cast my Thune, 4 triggers on stack, 4 counters for everyone, Attack with 3 spirits (4/4) trigger 2 windbrisk heights, play warden, play procession triggers gain 12 life 12 triggers (I missed triggers with the warden ETB and forgot to count the 5th Warden when adding the procession triggers- details at this point) So Im now swinging with 3 spirits (17/17) He blocks, next turn he casts EE to wipe out my spirit army. He looses next turn to everything else. boardstate 5 sisters (20/20) pridemate (big/big) archangel (23/24) serra ascendant (20/20). Win
I don't understand why there is no talk about Karlov in this whole thread
I get he's Legendary which can be real bad compared to your Pridemates but Karlov can get bigger faster, and has removal taped on him.
2 mana BW is harder to cast than Pridemate I guess? Seems worth it to me even just 2 or 3 copies along side your Pridemates instead of Squadron Hawk, but I'm no expert here.
-----
also, if I'm going to black splash, and run Lingering Souls, should I sideboard Spectral Procession in case of the Inquisition/Eidolon occurrences? Is one clearly better than the other?
@Giggle Physics , I can answer that as I made that mistake shortly after 2015 commander precons came out. Commander (as well as sets like Conspiracy) are only legal in eternal formats like commander and legacy/vintage, NOT modern. If karlov was legal in modern I am sure a B/W deck would be a viable version.
Also if you go to into B/W regardless you kind of become B/W tokens which is less played now but used lingering souls, spectral procession, bitterblossom, some auriok champions, etc.
@GigglePhysics; I think Karlov of the ghost Council would be broken in this deck/format. Which is why WOTC will not allow it. I also made the mistake in 2015 of buying/trying Karlov.
also, if I'm going to black splash, and run Lingering Souls, should I sideboard Spectral Procession in case of the Inquisition/Eidolon occurrences? Is one clearly better than the other?
I can not tell if either card is better than the other. I play a full set of both. Spectral procession counts as a 6 cmc card which works around Inquis- Eidolon, and some counterspell magics. Lingering Souls can be discarded and still be useful and sometimes is easier to cast if off color with mana. LS really shines when your drawing blanks and you can recast from the grave for more action later to recover or protect a board.
If you look at my Deck list above you see I only run 2 Black mana sources and I do not have trouble with flashing back LS.
I have also run more black in other versions and because of the low casting cost of our spells it rarely becomes an issue.
Crested Sunmare was talked about heavily when it was spoiled. It seems the consensus is that Archangel of Thune is just better.
I can testify that the deck works well without either of these cards; I played it for 6 months without them and still had great results.
B/W Tokens does not feel good in the current meta. I played a budget version for 2 months, it felt slow and under developed. I incorporated what I thought to be the best elements from tokens into my current build (listed above).
So... Giggles are you becoming a Soul Sister Player?
Thanks for posting and welcome to the forum.
Soul Sister was one of my first decks, but I usually try to make some jank ***** for fun, i actually came back to soul sisters because i was trying to find a way to make Juju Bubble playable. Needless to say that didn't work. So I took out the 2 bubble for 2 Sunmares, remembered Jace was legal now and stopped playing after two back-to-back Bloodbraid / JTMS encounters
And now since I know Karlov isn't legal I'm not sure what direction I want to go in with SS
Thoughts on the uptick of GR Ponza? Honestly don't think it gives up much trouble. Don't really care about Blood Moon, can GQ a sprawled forest and can get reasonably wide. Still more worried about Jund becoming more popular that it is.
We're not bad against Ponza as long as our manabase isn't too greedy. Most of our spells only have 1-white Pip, and we can operate from a very low curve to get faster than them. If they keep a hate-heavy hand or resolve a Titan, it can be rough. As for Jund, their overreliance on Bloodbraid makes them better for us, provided you run the Aurioks to chump it. We're still weak to discard into Goyf into Lili, though.
I scrubbed out with Martyr at GP Phoenix, so I took this version of our ladies for a spin at side events and had an incredible time. I did win the matchup lottery, so grain of salt, but I went 6-0 against Merfolk, Goblins, Burn, Taxes, Living End, and Hollow One. I know it's a budget buster, but I legitimately think the discard package solves so many problems (if I didn't have shocklands, I'd probably main 4 Leylines - Bogles is doing it and we attack the game very similarly.) I think it'll be my play for a few weeks while I recover from being a control player for a bit.
Have we tried selfless spirit in this deck? Im more then a little outdated on playing souls sisters. Have not taken it to a FNM and a friend would like to borrow it so was wondering how people had viewed it.
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Standard: No Time
Modern: Jund Midrange BRG
Legacy: Shardless Bug BUG
brave the elements is similar to selfless spirit in regards to the protection, but is more versatile in the application.
I tried selfless but did not like it in the deck.
If you like it try it. I tried many variations before I went back to a typical SS deck w/ B Splash.
I tried Selfless with hope of ghirapur and Athreos, god of passage with Martyr. So my playing of it may be tilted.
The down side I found was it was not an effective creature by itself, and sac'ing it sometimes felt wrong to protect 1/1's.
I prefer BTE as well but only because I like being able to catch someone off guard with that rather than have them know that is on board and play around it. Really interested in the discard package because I've always felt we need some more interaction in that regard.
@BoBoCTiberius - how necessary have you found T1 TS/IOK to be to make the discard package effective? No Marsh Flats so thinking of running Isolated Chapels/godless shrines with Windswept Heaths in the meantime. Running my usual list this week but I wana give that idea a swing for sure next week.
Will try adding horizon canopy, these decks have no card draw so I didn’t want to waste time playing things like honor of the pure, or ranger of eos. every draw step needs to be a potential threat, path is at a huge low point right now so most decks have no way of dealing with archangel.
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What's your side board look like? Besides the Blessed Alliances, Brave the Elements is situationally good against infect though doesn't stop Inkmoth Nexus. If you're really needing to stop infect, Solemnity is also a way to do this, but unfortunately it's just at that point on the curve where infect can sometimes kill you before you can play it. But Solemnity is sort of a last-ditch effort since it nonbos so nicely with Archangel (like I've had people side in Solemnity against me and it's a world of fun). But the other option is to just go with white Fogs.
Since you have 8 Rack in the meta as well, Dawn Charm can be surprise tech against some of their discard that still lets you fog out against infect. I don't think you can prevent a Valakut trigger with it, but you can spot-save a creature they wanted to Bolt away. And it can buy you a turn or two against Living End/E-Tron/Affinity/etc. So that might be the best white Fog for your meta. (There's other options, obviously, but I think that's the most versatile of them. Siding too narrowly weakens other match ups, and this one might just improve your odds).
If you wanted to get really spicy with the meme values, you could side Mana Tithe for an FNM or two (until people realize you've started playing it and play around it), keep them on their toes and maybe help steal you a win or two. But then swap it out for "real" side cards after the jig's up.
Can help with more/better/relevant sideboard suggestions if you could post yours
Match 1: 1-2 vs Grixis Through the Breach
Turns out Emrakul is a good Magic card, who knew? After sideboard and bringing in discard I was able to at least give my opponent a good fight. Winning game 2 on the back of discard and Sorin sealing the deal with +1 pump. Game 3 I wasn't able to get enough of a board quick enough after hitting him with multiple Thoughtseize and eventually got Emrakul'd
Match 2: 0-2 vs Devoted Druid CoCo
Lost game 1 to a turn four infinite mana combo into Duskwatch Recruiter and Walking Ballista. Game 2 was much longer and I was able to slow him down with removal and discard but eventually succumbed to a couple good hits off CoCo which overwhelmed my board.
Match 3: 2-1 vs Bogles
Game one opponent had a great opening hand and I couldn't keep up with his hexproof bogle. Game 2 I landed an opening Thoughtseize and he wasn't able to recover after that. Game 3 was similar, after hitting him with two discard he wasn't able to draw into more threats before I had my board online and overwhelmed him.
Match 4: 1-2 vs Infect
Game 1 was our best game of the match. It was fun evaluating when to block and when not to block, the attrition of it. Game 2 and 3 unfortunately went rather poor for me. Both games followed the same slow attrition battle of me blocking and removing creatures but in both games I hit pockets of 3-4 land draws in a row and that ended me both times.
Summary:
Even with my poor record I had a lot of fun playing the deck. I know a few of my losses came down to learning curve mistakes in opening hands and improper targets chosen for discard but I don't think my record would have changed much if at all. In all my games I always sideboarded in the 4 Thoughtseize. As far as card evaluations go I really liked Freebooter and Thalia's Lieutenant. Freebooter gave me some good G1 interaction and another flyer while Lt. was a great anthem that drew a lot of hate that I'd rather not have targeted at a sister. I do wonder if Honor of the Pure would just be better than Lt. since it buffs my spirits, vampires, and pridemate as well. Ayli only saw play once but her activated ability would not have been relevant since I never broke 30 life in any of my games. Thoughtseize, pain lands, and generally letting the opponents get a couple early hits in kept my life between 22-25 most games. Copter only made an appearance in the infect matchup where it died rather quickly but I want to run it a bit more because it feels like it has too much upside.
As of right now I can say that I will probably cut both Ayli and add another Freebooter and Lieutenant as well as potentially cutting 2 sisters and adding more G1 interaction or more token producers. Sideboard changes will also be made as well as I have seen at least some of my local meta and got and idea of what some of the people I didn't play against are playing.
@GreenSkyDragon:
I think Bitterblossom would be awesome and I've wondered if going a bit more token heavy with it and Secure the Wastes would be a good course of action. I'll probably try it out at some point but won't be for a little while as I'm on a slight budget at current. I do like the idea of Dusk/Dawn replacing Servitude, would like to test.
@BoBoCTiberius:
I'm actually running 22 lands but yeah gaining another card would be good. I'd agree it's at least worth trying, usually pretty easy to flip the card.
Modern:WUSpiritsWU, R12 BoltR
Commander:Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend, Ace of Spades, I Love the Night, The Reaper
~Signature by: Miraculous Recovery Signatures~
4W
Legendary Sorcery
(You may cast a legendary sorcery only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.)
Exile all nonland permanents that aren't legendary.
Seems excellent against a deck like Lantern or Bogles if you're in a Gideon-heavy build.
Damping Sphere
2
Artifact
If a land is tapped for two or more mana, it produces C instead of any other type and amount.
Each spell a player casts costs 1 more to cast for each other spell that player has cast this turn.
This can stop Tron while also neutering Storm, Ad Naseum and Ponza. Seems like a worthy sideboard card.
Went 4-0
Match 1, 5c Humans 2-1 -edit-
Game 1 I have mana troubles and he just beats me down for a slow win.
Game 2 Sisters on board, he deals early damage develops a quick board and bounces, disrupts my defenses. He over commits on an attack for leathal. I cast settle the wreckage leaving him with 1 dude and no cards in hand My deck recovers and wins.
Game 3 win He has mana troubles at 2 mana, I develop a slow board and run over him.
Match 2 Jund Bloodbraid 2-1
Game 1 Back and forth with his Bob hurting him more than helping, I get larger and fly over him for the win.
Game 2 He shuts down my lifegain and takes out my pridemate. I suffer thru a few more rounds till death, lost.
Game 3 I just explode creatures (2 serra Acsendant, 2 sisters, 2 Spectral Procession) and should have gotten ascended Serra's but Missed a trigger with Bloodbraid ETB which allows him to kill a "weak" Serra. He dies a few turns later than sooner.
Match 3 Jund Bloodbraid 2-1
Game 1 win, he fumbles with his deck learning to play it. I hit my things and just win with honor of the pure on Lingering souls. Elspeth enters and adds to the damage.
Game 2 I have mana problems and he resolves spells faster. loss
Game 3 I develop quick, he has mana problems keeping a high CMC hand. I path my guys in response to his Bolts giving me free land drops and flipping Ardante. He has to develop from behind. I win
Match 4 Bant Spirits 2-1
My opponent had no answers going into the game and wished to quit before playing, my response was No I want your soul.
Game 1 Win we both mulligan1, close game but my lifegain saved damage until I could get answers for a win, everything came into play this game. went long.
Game 2 He mulligans1 I mulligan2 to a fast hand, I keep a hand with no sisters, He wins quick.
Game 3 we both Mulligan1 (2.50 minutes on game clock). I keep hand of worship, ardanta, Fetchland, windbrisk, 2 plains scry plains top.. I Hideaway a soulsister, We go back and forth I land an early T4 Worship followed by Ardante, He can not answer it, and hideaway spectral procession. I Ranger up 2 sisters. I hold back an archangel trying to draw out a counterspell he does not have in the deck. Our board states are close but his guys are a little larger. We go to Turns I cast my Thune, 4 triggers on stack, 4 counters for everyone, Attack with 3 spirits (4/4) trigger 2 windbrisk heights, play warden, play procession triggers gain 12 life 12 triggers (I missed triggers with the warden ETB and forgot to count the 5th Warden when adding the procession triggers- details at this point) So Im now swinging with 3 spirits (17/17) He blocks, next turn he casts EE to wipe out my spirit army. He looses next turn to everything else. boardstate 5 sisters (20/20) pridemate (big/big) archangel (23/24) serra ascendant (20/20). Win
4 Soul Attendant
3 Soul Warden
2 Auriok Champion
4 Ajani Pridemate
2 Ranger of Eos
2 Archangel Of Thune
4 Path to Exile
1 Legion's Landing
4 Honor the Pure
4 Lingering Souls
1 Worship
1 Elspeth-knight Errant
1 Sorin, solemn Visitor
4 Spectral Procession
1 swamp
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Godless shrine
1 vault of the Archangel
2 windbrisk Heights
4 Flooded strand
2 rest in Piece
2 eiddolon of Rhetoric
3 stoney silence
1 sundering growth
2 ghost quarter
2 blessed alliance
1 celestial purge
1 mirrian crusader
1 settle the wreckage
I get he's Legendary which can be real bad compared to your Pridemates but Karlov can get bigger faster, and has removal taped on him.
2 mana BW is harder to cast than Pridemate I guess? Seems worth it to me even just 2 or 3 copies along side your Pridemates instead of Squadron Hawk, but I'm no expert here.
-----
also, if I'm going to black splash, and run Lingering Souls, should I sideboard Spectral Procession in case of the Inquisition/Eidolon occurrences? Is one clearly better than the other?
And just for the hell of it; Crested Sunmare?
Also if you go to into B/W regardless you kind of become B/W tokens which is less played now but used lingering souls, spectral procession, bitterblossom, some auriok champions, etc.
I don't get why WotC doesn't give that fun stuff to modern
I can not tell if either card is better than the other. I play a full set of both. Spectral procession counts as a 6 cmc card which works around Inquis- Eidolon, and some counterspell magics. Lingering Souls can be discarded and still be useful and sometimes is easier to cast if off color with mana. LS really shines when your drawing blanks and you can recast from the grave for more action later to recover or protect a board.
If you look at my Deck list above you see I only run 2 Black mana sources and I do not have trouble with flashing back LS.
I have also run more black in other versions and because of the low casting cost of our spells it rarely becomes an issue.
Crested Sunmare was talked about heavily when it was spoiled. It seems the consensus is that Archangel of Thune is just better.
I can testify that the deck works well without either of these cards; I played it for 6 months without them and still had great results.
B/W Tokens does not feel good in the current meta. I played a budget version for 2 months, it felt slow and under developed. I incorporated what I thought to be the best elements from tokens into my current build (listed above).
So... Giggles are you becoming a Soul Sister Player?
Thanks for posting and welcome to the forum.
And now since I know Karlov isn't legal I'm not sure what direction I want to go in with SS
I scrubbed out with Martyr at GP Phoenix, so I took this version of our ladies for a spin at side events and had an incredible time. I did win the matchup lottery, so grain of salt, but I went 6-0 against Merfolk, Goblins, Burn, Taxes, Living End, and Hollow One. I know it's a budget buster, but I legitimately think the discard package solves so many problems (if I didn't have shocklands, I'd probably main 4 Leylines - Bogles is doing it and we attack the game very similarly.) I think it'll be my play for a few weeks while I recover from being a control player for a bit.
3 Soul Warden
3 Soul's Attendant
3 Auriok Champion
2 Archangel of Thune
4 Spectral Procession
4 Lingering Souls
4 Path to Exile
4 Honor of the Pure
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Dusk//Dawn
1 Brave The Elements
4 Marsh Flats
4 Godless Shrines
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Shambling Vent
2 Windbrisk Heights
1 Swamp
Modern: Jund Midrange BRG
Legacy: Shardless Bug BUG
I tried selfless but did not like it in the deck.
Modern: Jund Midrange BRG
Legacy: Shardless Bug BUG
I tried Selfless with hope of ghirapur and Athreos, god of passage with Martyr. So my playing of it may be tilted.
The down side I found was it was not an effective creature by itself, and sac'ing it sometimes felt wrong to protect 1/1's.
Will try adding horizon canopy, these decks have no card draw so I didn’t want to waste time playing things like honor of the pure, or ranger of eos. every draw step needs to be a potential threat, path is at a huge low point right now so most decks have no way of dealing with archangel.